1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to velocipedes, especially bicycles, having hand cranked propulsion for the front wheel.
2. Description of Prior Art
Bicycles and other velocipedes with hand cranks to drive the front wheel are known in the prior art. These have not become highly popular due to cost, inconvenience, bulkiness, and lack of appropriate drive trains make bicycle cruising speeds practical.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,662 by this inventor discloses advances over the prior art. The present invention is safer, less bulky, more convenient, and more attractive than that earlier design. This is due to improvements in the front drive train configuration and geometry and other improvements, including an improved brake lever design, and repositioning of the shifter levers.
Several other patents show velocipedes with hand cranked propulsion, and are listed here for reference. They show a variety of designs that are dissimilar to the present invention in some or all respects, and have inherent disadvantages. For example, many of them use hand cranks in which the left and right cranks are offset 180 degrees from each other This type of alternating crank is not stable enough to allow the crank handles to be used for steering a bicycle while cranking.
Prior related U.S. Pat. Nos. include: 4,773,662 (Phillips, 1988); 4,152,005 (Vanore, 1979); 4,270,766 (Thomas, 1981); 3,910,599 (Thomas, 1975); 3,823,959 (Winters, 1974); 4,109,927 (Harper, 1978); 4,303,255 (Thomas, 1981); 4,316,616 (Boivin, 1982); 4,417,742 (Intengan, 1983); 4,498,684 (Intengan, 1985); 4,548,420 (Patroni, Jr., 1985); 4,653,613 (Biancas, 1987); 4,685,692 (Fullilove et al., 1987).